On Friday, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Shadybrook may also have misled parents by advertising an affiliation with the American Camping Association.

The camp brochure sent to parents this year carries an accreditation seal from the American Camping Association. But the association pulled the camp's accreditation last summer after a site inspection uncovered unspecified shortcomings.

The camp also bills itself as a ``member'' of the American Camping Association on its Web site. Camp owner Norman Rivkees said he continues to pay dues to the association, so he is entitled to call the camp a member.

But officials with the association said only individuals are considered members. Camps themselves are not considered members.

If the attorney general's office finds that Shadybrook violated the state's consumer protection laws, Blumenthal said, the camp owner could face fines or a court order.

Rivkees declined to comment on Blumenthal's investigation, saying he didn't have enough information. He also suggested that the attorney general wouldn't be investigating if newspaper reporters hadn't raised the issue.

``I don't know what his allegations are,'' Rivkees said.

The camp, which had been accredited for 11 years, serves 6- to 18- year-olds with mental, emotional or communicative disorders, such as autism or Down's syndrome. Parents were charged $5,700 for a seven-week session and $3,650 for a monthlong stay.

There were 82 campers at Shadybrook this summer, including one child who is in state custody.

Several parents said this week they took the ACA accreditation as proof of the camp's quality, and would not have sent their children to Shadybrook without it.

The state health department has scheduled an Aug. 18 hearing on the camp's license.

The license was suspended after state health and child welfare officials found five instances of abuse or neglect. One boy's rash went unnoticed until it turned into gangrene, officials said, and another child's ear infection went untreated until his eardrum burst.

The state said it also substantiated a case in which drunken counselors returned to camp in the early morning and doused campers with ketchup and other substances.

Last summer, Shadybrook was fined $5,000 by the state for violations that included giving a child the wrong medication. The child developed a life-threatening condition and had to be rushed to a hospital by helicopter.

Rivkees has disputed the allegations and said he has written proof that no one at Shadybrook gave the wrong medication to a camper.

He also accused the state of finding the camp guilty before it had completed a full investigation.